The Second Appointment

It was appointment day, June 25th, 2018 4PM. I went to the Dr, after exactly 1 month of starting my diet. I stepped on the scale and watched the numbers on the scale just go down, I watched the BMI go lower than I could remember seeing it in a very long time. My OBG had told me that it was next to impossible to lower your BMI naturally without surgery if it was over 50. My BMI when I started was 54, one month later I had a BMI of 51. I was still over, but I was getting lower. I don’t like to be told that I need help to do something. I am a determined person, strong willed and stubborn minded. My nurse finished up with her vitals and her normal questions and I wait for the Dr. As I sit and wait for him to come in the room I prepare for him to tell me I need to slow down, or I am taking things too fast, or it’s unhealthy to for me to be on a Ketogenic diet. I prepare for the worst even though I thought in my head “I am doing wonderful, screw him if he says otherwise”.

He comes in and starts going over the bloodwork that h had ordered the month prior. He tells me that everything is looking good, that my Thyroid is normal, and I have okay cholesterol levels. He tells me that my pre-diabetic diagnosis wouldn’t remain if my sugar and insulin levels continued to show as they were on these results. I explained to him that I haven’t been able to take the prescribed medication due to headaches. He offered another medication, I don’t recall the name since I didn’t accept the prescription. I explained to him that I have been partaking in the Ketogenic Diet, I explained to him how I feel when I wake up in the morning and throughout my day, all the way throughout bed-time which typically doesn’t come until around or after midnight for me.

He looked at me and said, “GOOD FOR YOU”, I want to see you back in 1 month, and we’re going to do blood tests and another EKG to make sure that your body is responding well to the Ketogenic Diet. I agreed, set my next appointment for Wednesday, July 25th, 2018 at 4pm. I was excited to see what this month would bring, since the last 30 days were so great.

But, this month wasn’t the best. I fell off the wagon, times got hard and family life took over. I fell victim to “easy and convenient” food. My family was struck with a hard time, that we are still currently handling. An emergency had happened with my Uncle, back in Michigan. I had to go home. I had to go and see him, I had to go home and see my cousins and my Aunt. I needed to be there, regardless of conditions. I love my family very much, and my Aunt Becki and Uncle Mike have always been there for me. They are 2 of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I’m not just saying that because they are my family. I am saying it because they help EVERYONE, with just about everything. They have the most kind and loving hearts that anyone could have. My Uncle Mike was injured while helping to set traps in a field for a family friend, she was having a problem with raccoons. However, while he was setting traps, he was mistaken for the very same thing he was trying to trap, a raccoon. He was shot behind the right ear with a .22 caliber bullet. He was immediately flown to the hospital and placed in critical condition. I flew home a day and a half after I found out. He was considered “cautiously stable”, but still in a critical time window. (To donate and learn more about my Uncle and his updates please visit http://gofundme.com/mike-amd-becki-bradford )

Time at the hospital, seeing family and close friends meant not being able to be home and have access to the foods I was used to eating in that last month or so. I attempted to not eat nearly as many carbs as I normally would, but you really can’t pass up a few chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant, especially when you’re “sad eating”. This weekend that I was gone, I had indulged in chips, a donut, and few other very high carb things. They were easy. They were there. I was sad. It wasn’t an excuse. I ate them. I felt like crap. I got home the Monday after I left on Friday. I was only gone for a few days and I was scared to step on the scale. Before I had left, I weight 307.5. I stepped on the scale… I gained 14 pounds while I was gone on a 3-day trip. 321.6 pounds. I WAS DEVISTATED. But I didn’t give up. I went right back to my ketogenic diet the very next morning.

Monday July 16th, 2018, I started back in my Ketogenic diet. It typically takes your body anywhere from 3-5 days to earn a state of ketosis. I struggled during the time with the “keto-flu”, falling victim to being sluggish, no energy, cranky as all hell, hungry, fighting cravings, stomach cramps and headaches. But, I made it back to Ketosis. I started off strong and kept my feet moving since then. After plummeting the first time, there is no way I want to feel that Keto-flu again. I lost 16 pounds, after my temporary setback of carb bingeing.